Improved paddle-wheel



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E. SMITH, OFJOLD RIPLEY, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSEI.|F A1\TDJ A. GL SOMMERFEL'DT, OF SAME PLACE;

Laim Patent iva. 70,637, dated naamw 5, 1867.

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Bc it known that I, E. C. SMITH, of Old Ripley, in the county of Bond, and State'of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Steamboat Paddle-Wheel; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art te make and use the same,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a. side sectional view of my improved extension paddle water-wheel. Figure 2 is a top view ofthe same, partly in section, through the line :u w, lig. 1.

Similar letters of referentie indicate corresponding parte; A This invention relates to an improvement in the construction of paddle-wheels for propelling steamboats, and consists in attaching fixed eecentr'ics upon the frame, having loose revolving collars around them, which are connected with the paddles by jointed arms, in such a manner that upon each revolution of the wheel the paddles dip perpendicularly as they descend into and rise in `the water, and thus present a constant resistance at right angles to the line of the horizon. This action of the paddles of a steamboat-'wheel is not novel, but thedevice of my invention by which itis elected is simpler and more effective than any known mechanical arrangement. I

A represents theshaft of a steamboat-wheel, hung in an overhangingframe, IB, as usual. The shaft passes loosely through eccentrics a a, that are bolted fast on the sides of the frame B, with the line of their greatest eccentricity horizontal, as shown in fig. 1..By the side oftheeccentrics a a are fastened the disks C C, or their equivalents, which support the paddles and framework of the wheel, on the shaft A. On the eccentrica a a are placed loose bands or collars c c, which are connected with the paddles D D by jointed arms?) 6,- and the paddles are also connected by ajointor hinge with rigid arms al d on the disks C C. Four frietion-rollers,

or pins', e e, are set in the side of the collars c c, to project through four circular holes or wings, 1, 2, 3, 4, made in'the disks C C, equidistant from eachother and from the centre of the shaft A, and having diameters equal to twice the degree or amount of eccentricity of the eccentrica a a. The pins e e bear against the sides of the'circular holes 1, 2,3, 4, and turn around in them when the shaft revolves with the disks C C, and thus move the.collars c c backward and forward, while they travel around, a distance from -thc centre of motion of the .wheel corresponding with the degree of cccentricity of the eccentrica, by which movement of the collars the jointed arms b b attached to them act on the paddles D D, to move them inesuch a manner that they dip into the water and rise in it vertically, or nearly so, and always exert resistance at right angles to the' horizon, whereby they require less power for propelling a boat equal distances than the ordinary rigid paddles, which waste power', in Vdescending and ascending, by their downward and upward resistance against the water.

In the construction of wheels too large for the power of two eccentrics to work the paddles, the number may be incrcasedby attaching them to plate-iron beams whichmaybe introduced inte the wheel, as shown in red Ain iig. 2. Y

Having thus described my invcntion, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The fixed eccentrics a d, in combination with the collars c c, the disks C C, or their equivalents, provided with the circular holes or rings 1, 2, 3, 4, the pins e c on the collars e c, thejointed arms b b, the paddles D D, andthe shaft A, the who-le constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as and for the purpose herein described. y v

E. C. SMITH.

Witnesses: i

F. G. SANDS, JOHN Borna. 

